Wrapper mechanism



Jan. 23, 1940.

C. J. MALHIOT WRAPPER MECHANISM Filed July 5, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR. CLm-ence J. MaLh'Lot @amf m ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 23,1940. 0. J. MALHIOT 2,188,282

WRAPPER MECHANISM Filed July 5, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 560' ONEREVOLUTION 6F MACHINE 1 LEI H In L a H Z i :n 3 i\ E z 8' Z 2 z 3 o vINVENTOR.

' CLar-ence J. Malhlo't BY; z'acmv l'i sw-uoa e53: so m Auac'iinwaanwaad ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 23, 1940 UNITED STATE waAPrEa MECHANISMClarence J. Malhiot, Oak Park, 111., assignor to Bedlngto n 00.,Chicago, Ill., a corporatlon Application July 5, 1938, Serial No.217,495

4Claims.

This invention relates to wrapping machines in general and particularlyto machines of the class which cut wrappers from a continuously movingweb which are then wrapped about an article. More specifically, theinvention relates to a feed or discharge means for machines of thelatter type.

The primary object of the invention is the provision of new and improveddischarge means so that a cut wrapper will be speedily removed from thecutting apparatus where it is to be used to wrap a package, so thatthere will be no interference of the feeding and cutting operation ofthe next succeeding wrapper to be cut.

A further object of the invention is the provision of discharge feedmeans which will in-' crease its speed of operation or rotationimmediately after the wrapper is cut from the web so that the cut webwill be quickly moved out 'of the path of the oncoming web from whichanother wrapper is to be cut.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of discharge feedmeans which is correlated with other moving parts of the machine so thatall the parts will operate synchronously but which will increase itsspeed at a predetermined time, such as immediately after the cuttingoperation, so that a cut wrapper will be speedily moved away from thecutting knives to prevent interference with the oncoming web, but at thesame time will lag during other'positions whereby a continuouslysynchronized feed discharge means will automatically slow or increaseits speed depending upon the position of other working parts of themachine.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of dischargefeed mechanism arranged in the form of an attachment or addition towrapping machines and being applicable for both existing and newmachines and operating synchronously with other operating parts of themachine so that at definite periodical intervals the speed of the feeddischarge will be increased F to remove a cut wrapper so as not tointerfere with additional or subsequent operations of the machine towhich the attachment or addition is 55 Fig. 1 is a detail elevationalview of a part of a machine or an attachment for a machine and embodyingthe invention;

Fig. 2 is a detail elevational view of the left end of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view on the line 5 2-3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view similar to Fig. 3, showing some of thelower gear mechanism in one position;

Fig. dis a view similar to Fig. 4, showing the parts in a differentposition; and

Fig; 6 is'a graphical representation of the ve-. locity of the feedrolls.

The structure herein shown for the purpose of illustrating the inventioncomprises a frame or support III which may be part of the wrappingmachine or wrapper making machine frame. The'invention herein disclosedis particularly applicable for a wrapper making machine provided withmeans for applying the made wrapper U about a package or article. Theessence of the particular invention, therefore, is the provision ofdischarge means for discharging the finished cut wrapper at anaccelerated speed so that the finished wrapper will be out of the wayand ll moved to wrapping position by the time the next wrapper is beingcut.

-The machine frame l0 supports an upper feed roll shaft upon which thereis mounted a feed roller l2, Fig. 2. The feed roller |2 carries and 80is driven by a gear l3 which meshes with a gear It on a feed rollershaft IS. The shaft l5 carries a feed roller |6 which is arranged to theright of the feed roll l2, Fig. 2, and in contacting relationship tofeed a web of wrapping material 25 to the cutting rollers l1 and I8,Figs. 1 and 2. The shaft 15 for the feed roller I6 is carried bybrackets l9 which are mounted on a stationary shaft 20. The brackets l9each comprise arms 2| and 22, there being lost motion between the 0 arms2| and 22.

A spring 23 is arranged between parts of the arms 2| and 22 to urge thefeed roller l6 into feeding contact with the feed roller l2. The arm 22of the bracket I9 revolubly receives the shafts 20 and I5, while thebracket arm 2| is fixed to the shaft 20. The spring 23, therefore, urgesthe bracket arm 22 away from the bracket arm 2| or toward the left, asshown in Fig. 2. The arm 2| may be locked to the stationary shaft 20 inany convenient manner, such as by a set screw 24.

The shaft H for the feed roller l2 has a gear 25 fixed thereto whichmeshes with an idler gear 28 and drives the feed roll [2 and itscompanion u g feed roll IS. The idler gear meshes with a driv; en gear21 fixed to a shaft 39 which,carries the cutter roll l1, Figs. 1 and 2.The cutter roll shaft 28 carries a gear 29 which meshes with a companiongear, not shown, on the shaft 30 which carries the cutter roll II. Thefeed rolls l2 and I6, therefore, rotate synchronously with the cutterrolls l1 and I8.

The web of material, therefore, is fed by the feed rolls l2 and I6 tothe cutter rolls l1 and I3 where it is cut by the cutter blades l1 andI9. The piece of cut web or wrapper then passes to the lower dischargefeed rolls 3| and 32, Figs. 1 and 2. The feed roll 3| is mounted on ashaft 33 which carries a gear 34 driven by a gear 35 by means of anidler gear 35a, Fig, 3. The shaft 33 also has fixed thereto a gear 36which meshes with a companion gear 31 mounted on a shaft 38 whichcarries the companion feed roll 32.

The shaft 38 is revolubly supported in bracket arms 39 which arms areslightly swingingly or rockingly mounted, there being a spring 49arranged between a part of the swinging arms 39 and a rigid portion 4|of the frame to urge the shaft 38 in a predetermined direction towardthe shaft 33 and maintaining the gears 36 and 31 in meshing relation.

The gear 35 is rotatably mounted on a shaft 42 and this gear 35 isdriven by a roller 43 mounted on a pin 44 fixed to the gear 35. Thisroller 43 and pin 44 are located a predetermined distance from the axialcenter line of the gear 35 and shaft 42, as clearly shown in Figs. 3, 4,and 5. The roller 43 and pin 44 extend into a channelshaped block 45having a guideway 46. The roller 43 and stud or pin 44 operate in theguideway 46 of the block 45. The block 45 is driven by a gear 41 whichmeshes with the driven gear 21, the gear 4! being rotatably mounted on ashaft 48. The block 45 is fixed to the gear 41 so that during rotationof the gear 41 the block 45 will rotate with it, and due to the rollerconnection on the gear 35 with the block 45, rotation of the gear 35 isassured. Inasmuch as the roller is located to one side, there will occura sliding movement of the guideway 45 and the block 45 with respect tothe roller 43. Therefore, during rotation of the gear 41 the roller 43will assume difierent positions with respect to the ends of the block 45whereby the gear 35 will be caused to rotate at various speeds. When theroller 43 is in one extreme position with respect to the guideway 46 thegear 35 will rotate at arelatively slow speed, but when the roller is inthe other extreme position of the guide way the gear 35 will be causedto rotate at a high speed. Therefore, the speed of the gear 35 isvariable, and inasmuch as the gear 35 rotates the gear 34, the speed ofthe gear 34'will be variable. Be-

cause the gear 34 is of a smaller diameter than the gear 35, the gear 35will accelerate from its minimum speed to a predetermined maximum speedand then decelerate to its minimum speed again in one complete cycle ofthe machine. The gear 35 being driven by the gear 34, of course willoperate at exactly the same speed as the gear 34. Therefore, thedischarge feed rollers 32 and 3| will rotate at the same speed as thegear 34.

In Fig. 6 there is a graph showing the speed of the feed rollers. As maybe seen, the normal speed of the web, or the speed at which the rollersl2 and Hi are feeding the web, is intermediate the minimum and maximumspeed of the variably driven discharge feed rollers 3| and 32 andpreferably close to the minimum speed.

This normal speed is determined by the position of the roller 43 in theblock 45 when the roller is close to one extreme position of the block.The maximum speed of the feed rollers 3| and 32 occurs when the roller43 is at the other extreme end of the block 45. Therefore, the graphindicates the variable speed attained by the gear 35, and inasmuch asthe gear 35 causes the rotation of the feed rollers 3| and 32, the feedrollers will rotate at a relatively slow speed for a certain period oftime and then increase their speed.. The graph, therefore, indicates thespeed attained by the gear 35 during one complete rotation thereof.

The chain of gears disclosed in Fig. 3, including the driving connectionbetween the gear 41 and the gear 35, is synchronized so that the speedof the discharge feed rollers 3| and 32 will be substantially equal tothe normal speed of the web when a wrapper is out, which will be whenthe knives l1 and I8 are in the position shown in Fig. 2, and will thenimmediately increase so that the web will be carried away at a speedincreasingly greater than the normal speed of theweb.

The mechanism herein disclosed is adapted to be applied to machineswhereby a package or article wrapper is cut from a running web.Therefore, it is very desirable that the cut web or wrapper be removedout of position as soon as possible and transported to the place wherethe wrapping is to occur. No interference with the oncoming web, whichis to be later cut, therefore occurs. If the feed rollers 3| and 32 wereoperating at a continuous high speed, there would be a tendency of thewrapper to be shifted, displaced, or probably torn, due to the fact thatthe cutting action of the cutters is not instantaneous, but in thenature of a shearing action progressing from one side of the web to theother as the web moves forwardly. It has been found to be veryadvantagous to have the cut wrapper removed from the cutting station andtransported to the wrapping station as quickly as possible andimmediately after the cutting operation.

The invention therefore provides correlated, synchronized, positivelyoperating variable speed mechanism for removing the cut wrapperimmediately after the cutting operation. The invention discloses simple,highly efficient and inexpensive mechanism for accomplishing thevariable speed rotation of the discharge feed rollers.

Changes may be made in the form, construc-.

tion and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of theinvention or sacrificing any of its advantages, and the right is herebyreserved to make all such changes as fairly fall within the scope of thefollowing claims.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. In combination, means for feeding a web of material, cutters forcutting sheets from the web, discharge feed means for removing the cutsheets from cutting position, and means for driving the discharge feedmeans at a variable peripheral speed increasing immediately upon thecompletion of the cutting operation.

2. In a wrapping machine, means for feeding a web of material forforming wrappers, cutters for cutting a wrapper from the web, means foroperating the cutters at a constant predetermined web speed, a dischargefeed roller for moving a wrapper cut from the web by said cutters, andmeans driving said discharge feed roller at substantially the speed ofthe web during the cutting operation and accelerating the speed of thedischarge feed roller immediately after the cutting operation.

3. In combination, means for feeding a web of material at asubstantially uniform speed, rotary cutters between which said web isfed by said feeding means for cuttingsheets from the web, means forrotating the cutters at a peripheral speed substantially equal to thespeed oi. the web, discharge feed rollers between which said web is fedfrom the cutters for conveying a sheet cut from the web by said cutters,means for rotating the discharge feed rollers at substantially the speedof the web during the cutting operation and accelerating the speed ofthe discharge feed rollers immediately upon completion of the cuttingoperation.

4. In a wrapping machine, means for feeding a web of wrapping materialat a substantially uniform speed, rotary cutters between which said webis fed by said feeding means for cutting a wrapper from the web, meansfor rotating the cutters at a substantially constant peripheral speedsubstantially equal to the speed of the web, a discharge feed roller towhich the web is fed from the cutters for conveying a wrapper cut fromthe web by said cutters, and means for rotating the discharge teedroller including a driving connection between thecutting means anddischarge feed roller for rotating the discharge feed roller atsubstantially the speed of the web during the cutting operation andperiodically accelerating the discharge feed roller as the cutterscomplete the severance of a wrapper from the web.

CLARENCE J. MALHIO I'.

